DESPERATE passengers have pleaded via mobile phone to be saved from a burning ferry off the Greek island of Corfu as rescuers battled gale-force winds to get to them.

But with gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour making rescue difficult and dangerous, the crew has so far only managed to get 150 of the 478 people off the stricken "Norman Atlantic", Greek officials said.

Seas were so violent that only 35 of those have so far been lifted from a lifeboat to a tanker that came to their aid, Greek Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said hours into the emergency.

He said seven merchant vessels have encircled the ferry in an attempt to shelter it from fierce Force 10 winds, as Greek and Italian firefighting vessels raced from their coasts.

On fire ... the Norman Atlantic sailing on the Adriatic Sea on December 28 was engulfed by flames. AFP/SKAI TVSource: AP

Italian navy spokesman Riccardo Rizzotto said four helicopters were already at the scene and the ship's captain had told coastguards that the ferry was now drifting towards the Albanian coast.

"The weather conditions are so bad we need an extraordinary level of support, which is effectively what is being put in place," he said.

It was unclear if there had been casualties or if there were any passengers in the water, but Rizzotto one 58-year-old Italian man has been flown to Italy suffering from the symptoms of hypothermia.

Freezing passengers huddled on the top deck of the ship told of their terror in calls to Greek television stations.

"We are on the top deck, we are soaked, we are cold and we are coughing from the smoke. There are women, children and old people," passenger Giorgos Styliaras told Mega TV.

Another told the station that "our shoes were melting" from the heat of the fire when they were mustered in the ship's reception area.

Haulage company boss Giannis Mylonas, who was in contact with three of his drivers on the vessel, said there were between 20 and 25 tanker trucks filled with olive oil on board.

"They are taking too long to find a way to help them. Let's hope this ferry will stand the heat of the fire," he told the station.

Vessels close to the ANEK Lines ferry, which caught fire 33 nautical miles off the small Greek island of Othonoi, rushed to give assistance after picking up its distress signal about 4.30am local time (1.30pm Sunday AEDT), the Greek coast guard said.

With high winds and torrential rain and sleet, Greek authorities described efforts to rescue the passengers "as particularly difficult and complicated".

The blaze on board is said to have broken out in the ferry's car deck. The Greek maritime ministry said 268 of the passengers were Greek, with the crew made up of 22 Italians and 34 Greeks.

A few hours later, around 35 passengers had been picked up by the Greek tanker "The Spirit of Piraeus", but another 115 were still stuck in a lifeboat, with towering waves and lashing wind hampering their transfer.

Four Greek and Italian firefighting ships were on their way to the scene, which is in the middle of a busy shipping lane, as well as four Italian patrol boats. At least three Italian and Greek helicopters circled overhead.

The "Norman Atlantic" had left the Greek port of Patras and had been heading to the Italian port of Ancona when the fire took hold.

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias told Mega television that Italian authorities had responded to a Greek plea for assistance and were now in charge of the rescue effort. The operation was being coordinated from the Italian ship "Europa".

The car deck of the Italian-flagged "Norman Atlantic" was believed to have been holding 195 vehicles when the fire broke out.

According to rescued passengers, the intense heat rapidly affected the rest of the ship. However, passengers stranded on the top deck of the ship later seemed to be more worried by the storm, telling Greek TV the flames were subsiding.

Oscar Desano (centre) is listed as a flight attendant on board the AirAsia flight.Source: DailyTelegraph

A FLIGHT attendant believed missing aboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 posted a number of haunting tweets about doomed MH370 and MH17 earlier this year.

Oscar Desano is listed as a flight attendant on board the AirAsia flight which lost contact with air control between Indonesia and Singapore.

The jet was travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore when it lost contact with an Indonesian air traffic control tower.

There are reportedly 155 passengers and six crew on board Flight QZ8501.

In a post to his Twitter account on Christmas eve, he wrote: "Merry Christmas to all my beautiful friends who celebrate it".

SEARCH IS ON FOR MISSING FLIGHT QZ8501

He wrote on July 18, following the downing of MH17 by a ground-to-air missile: "I feel truly sorry for the loss of MH17 by Malaysia Airlines. It's been 2 big catastrophic event for MAS in 1 year...

"My deep condolences also for the (passengers') family, may all the casualties rest in peace...

"Hope everything will be OK also for the internal company of Malaysia Airlines... Amiiinnn..."

"Pray for Malaysia Airlines flight number MH370 Boeing 777-200 bound for Beijing, who have lost contact…," he wrote on March 8.

The post by Oscar Desano.Source: Supplied

There are emerging reports the plane may have been trying to avoid bad weather at the time it disappeared.

A leaked, and yet unconfirmed air traffic control sheet, shared by pilots on Airlines.Net, showed the A320 continuing to climb through 36,000 feet, but only registering a speed of 353 knots.

"Gives me that feeling of another AF447 ... or something similar at least,'' one pilot suggested, referring to the ill-fated Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing 228 passengers.

Other passengers believed to be on board include Indonesian relatives Boby Hartanto Winata and Ingrid Winata.

The first officer aboard missing flight QZ8501 is believed to be decorated French pilot Remi Emmanuel Plesel.

The AirAsia employee, based in Paris, was last year included on the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Airmen Certification Database, according to the Aviation Business Gazette.

The FAA website lists Plesel as a certified private pilot of single engine aircraft.

The wait is on: Family members of passengers of missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 gather at Juanda International airport. AFP PhotoSource: AFP

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said the Australian Government is urgently seeking to get more details about the AirAsia flight that has vanished.

Ms Bishop said her office was trying to confirm whether there were any Australians on board.

"We are making inquiries with local authorities and the airline itself to determine the details," she said.

"We are urgently seeking to confirm details of the missing plane."

The passenger manifest of AirAsia flight QZ 8501.Source: Supplied

Sky News quoted Transport Ministry that official Hadi Mustofa said the aircraft lost contact at 6.17am local time.

He said the Airbus A320-200 had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.

AirAsia QZ8501: A plane similar to the missing one.Source: News Corp Australia

Capt Iriyanto had 6100 flying hours under his belt, while his first officer had accrued 2275 flying hours.

As the wait continues to find out what happened to the flight, one A320 pilot writing on renowned aviation forum Aviation.net confirmed the weather on route was "nasty" but would not be enough to render major structural failure.

"While the weather on the route looks rather nasty, I have always found that the A320 is a really solid aircraft in turbulance. I've flown it through bad winter storms, tropical thunderstorms and all sorts of combined weather and I've never felt that the aircraft was being held together on a hope and a prayer,'' the Canada based pilot said.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Airbus A320-200 about an hour after it left Juanda international airport in Surabaya, east Java, at 5.20am local time. It was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8.30am.

Shortly before disappearing, the plane asked permission from Jakarta air traffic control to track away from its flight plan and climb above adverse weather in an area renowned for severe thunderstorms.

The pilots requested "deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control (ATC)", AirAsia said in a statement on its Facebook page.

It's the third major incident to affect a Malaysian carrier this year.

AirAsia said the plane was carrying 155 passengers as well as two pilots, four flight attendants and an engineer on the flight. As well as the Indonesian passengers there were three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one British and one Singaporean, according to AirAsia's statement on Sunday night.

One French national has also been identified as part of the crew. The breakdown of passengers is 138 adults, 16 children and a baby, said Indonesia's air transportation director general Djoko Murjatmodjo.

DESPERATE passengers have pleaded via mobile phone to be saved from a burning ferry off the Greek island of Corfu as rescuers battled gale-force winds to get to them.

But with gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour making rescue difficult and dangerous, the crew has so far only managed to get 150 of the 478 people off the stricken "Norman Atlantic", Greek officials said.

Seas were so violent that only 35 of those have so far been lifted from a lifeboat to a tanker that came to their aid, Greek Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said hours into the emergency.

He said seven merchant vessels have encircled the ferry in an attempt to shelter it from fierce Force 10 winds, as Greek and Italian firefighting vessels raced from their coasts.

On fire ... the Norman Atlantic sailing on the Adriatic Sea on December 28 was engulfed by flames. AFP/SKAI TVSource: AP

Italian navy spokesman Riccardo Rizzotto said four helicopters were already at the scene and the ship's captain had told coastguards that the ferry was now drifting towards the Albanian coast.

"The weather conditions are so bad we need an extraordinary level of support, which is effectively what is being put in place," he said.

It was unclear if there had been casualties or if there were any passengers in the water, but Rizzotto one 58-year-old Italian man has been flown to Italy suffering from the symptoms of hypothermia.

Freezing passengers huddled on the top deck of the ship told of their terror in calls to Greek television stations.

"We are on the top deck, we are soaked, we are cold and we are coughing from the smoke. There are women, children and old people," passenger Giorgos Styliaras told Mega TV.

Another told the station that "our shoes were melting" from the heat of the fire when they were mustered in the ship's reception area.

Haulage company boss Giannis Mylonas, who was in contact with three of his drivers on the vessel, said there were between 20 and 25 tanker trucks filled with olive oil on board.

"They are taking too long to find a way to help them. Let's hope this ferry will stand the heat of the fire," he told the station.

Vessels close to the ANEK Lines ferry, which caught fire 33 nautical miles off the small Greek island of Othonoi, rushed to give assistance after picking up its distress signal about 4.30am local time (1.30pm Sunday AEDT), the Greek coast guard said.

With high winds and torrential rain and sleet, Greek authorities described efforts to rescue the passengers "as particularly difficult and complicated".

The blaze on board is said to have broken out in the ferry's car deck. The Greek maritime ministry said 268 of the passengers were Greek, with the crew made up of 22 Italians and 34 Greeks.

A few hours later, around 35 passengers had been picked up by the Greek tanker "The Spirit of Piraeus", but another 115 were still stuck in a lifeboat, with towering waves and lashing wind hampering their transfer.

Four Greek and Italian firefighting ships were on their way to the scene, which is in the middle of a busy shipping lane, as well as four Italian patrol boats. At least three Italian and Greek helicopters circled overhead.

The "Norman Atlantic" had left the Greek port of Patras and had been heading to the Italian port of Ancona when the fire took hold.

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias told Mega television that Italian authorities had responded to a Greek plea for assistance and were now in charge of the rescue effort. The operation was being coordinated from the Italian ship "Europa".

The car deck of the Italian-flagged "Norman Atlantic" was believed to have been holding 195 vehicles when the fire broke out.

According to rescued passengers, the intense heat rapidly affected the rest of the ship. However, passengers stranded on the top deck of the ship later seemed to be more worried by the storm, telling Greek TV the flames were subsiding.

Booking cheap flights and hotels isn't the only way to save when travelling.

Travel the world in style.Source: Getty Images

WE LOVE a good dose of luxury when we travel — especially when that luxury involves fluffy white robes, top-notch room service and bellhops at our beck and call.

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The folks at KAYAK analysed thousands of travel queries to determine which European cities offer the highest-quality hotels at the lowest prices — and what they found could change the way you approach Europe travel forever.

For example, they found you could stay at a five-star hotel in Warsaw for about ONE FOURTH the price of the average five-star room in London.

VIRAT Kohli is standing in the way of Australia's hopes of removing India quickly on day three.

The stylish Indian No. 4 has played an array of shots to reach 60 not out.

He's combined with Ajinkya Rahane (43 not out) in a 77 run fourth wicket partnership to take India to 3/224 at lunch. The visitors added 2/116 for the session.

Ryan Harris (2/40) has been the most successful Australian bowler. Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are wicketless.

11.50pm — INDIAN GREAT SLAMS BOWLERS

Apparently Australia isn't the only country with former cricketers who like getting stuck into current players.Source: Supplied

INDIAN legend Sunil Gavaskar wants an axe taken to India's bowling attack — which he labelled as hopeless after Australia scored 530 on day two.

"It's frustrating when you expect from them. I never had any expectations from this bowling attack. Yes you do hope that they perform but realistically it was not possible," Gavaskar told Indian television.

"I am trying to find a suitable word to describe their performance. In one word, they were hopeless. Look this is more or less the same bowling attack that has been there since 2011 and they haven't performed in South Africa, New Zealand or England where conditions for bowling were better.

"If they couldn't perform there, no way that they would have performed on Australian wickets, which is better for batting. It was expecting too much from them. I believe there is no harm in trying out a new attack as they can't perform worse than this."

The Indian batsmen are faring slightly better on day three, taking the score to 3/182.

Virat Kohli (37) and Ajinkya Rahane (24) are the not out batsmen.

Watch the highlights so far from the third day of Australia's third Test with India

11.25am — WATSON STRIKES TO REMOVE VIJAY

Shane Watson ... a bowling all-rounder?Source: Getty Images

SHANE Watson's impressive series with the ball has continued with the wicket of Murali Vijay for 68 on day three.

Vijay fell in a similar fashion to Cheteshwar Pujara, attempting to cut a rising delivery only to edge it to the slips cordon.

Shaun Marsh took the catch for Australia to leave the visitors 3/147.

11.20am — VIJAY, KOHLI SURVIVE TESTING TIME

Murali Vijay was struck on the head by a Mitchell Johnson delivery.Source: Getty Images

THE to and fro between Brad Haddin and the Indian cricket team has continued this morning with the Aussie wicketkeeper claiming the visitors have no plan B.

Haddin found himself in the firing line in the first innings when the Indians tried to bounce him out — a strategy Ravi Ashwin says his team plans to stick with.

"We really thought Haddin had a genuine weakness over there. We continue to think he has a weakness over there. We will continue to target him in the next innings and the next Test match as well. He doesn't quite look that comfortable to us," Ashwin said.

Haddin returned serve this morning in an interview with Ian Healy on Channel 9.

Healy asked Haddin if he'd been surprised at the pluck shown by the Indian side during the series and it was clear Haddin was reluctant to give them much credit.

"We know if we get on top of that little momentum they can get, we know they find it real hard to come back and have a plan B," Haddin said.

"They've got one plan but once we got through that ... we scored at five an over.

"We know if we can keep their bowlers coming back they find it a lot tougher than most to keep backing up."

Haddin's half century early on day two set the tone for Australia as they scored freely to post a first innings score of 530.

"It was pretty obvious where they were going to bowl, so I was going to fight fire with fire," he said.

The visitors resume at 1/108 this morning but Haddin is confident Australia can find the 19 wickets needed to win the game.

"The rate we scored at has allowed us time to bowl India out — and I think we need that on this wicket," he said.

"I thought the way we went about our business yesterday was first class."

Once happy couple Dustin Klopp and Stephanie Kilhefner on their wedding day in 2011. He rang police a day after he allegedly killed her with an axe on Christmas Eve after an argument.Source: Supplied

A MAN allegedly axed his wife to death on Christmas Eve and then took their children to relatives' home to celebrate Christmas.

He then stunned police by calling and confessing to the crime — before investigators even knew one had been committed.

Police allege Dustin Lee Klopp, 36, punched his wife Stephanie Kilhefner, cut her throat and bashed her head with an axe in their Pennsylvania home.

After the killing he tried to clean up the blood and moved his wife's body a shed on their property.

The following day he took their two children to his parents house to celebrate Christmas. It isn't known if he told them about what happened but later that day he phoned police to say he killed Ms Kilhefner and wanted to turn himself in.

About an hour later he arrived at the police station.

He has been charged with homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with or fabricating evidence and is in custody.

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said the children, aged 5 and 2, didn't witness the murder.

Dustin L Klopp called police on Christmas Day and told them he had killed his wife with an axe.Source: Supplied

He wouldn't say what the couple were arguing about.

"I don't know what he said ... What difference does it make? There's nothing that justifies it," said Stedman.

He told Lancaster Online a usual scenario when people called to confess in homicide cases was when they acted in self-defence.

So this case baffled him.

"I can't think of another one like this where [nearly a day goes by] and we get a phone call before we even know there's a crime."

Klopp has previously been before the courts on burglary and drugs charges. His former lawyer, Cory Miller, was stunned when he heard the news.

The couple were married in 2011.

"They both seemed to be very level-headed individuals. "He never struck me as a violent individual."

An autopsy would be performed on Ms Kilhefner tomorrow.

Neighbours told the Lancaster Online Klopp seemed "paranoid".

Tim and Sheila Rohrer saw them regularly because they shared a driveway.

"She was very nice ... and always stop and say hello," Mr Rohrer said of Kilhefner.

"He always struck me as being kind of paranoid."

Rohrer said Klopp told him to "let him know if I saw anybody hanging around, or disturbing his horses," he said. "That always seemed strange to me."

He recalled a FedEx driver once told his wife he didn't like going to their house "because he was cussed at.

"That's what I mean. I just got the impression he was paranoid."

The couple's Pennsylvania home where the alleged murder took place on Christmas Eve.Source: Supplied